Hearing held on Five Points rezoning

by Celia Shortt

A public hearing was held before the Newnan City Council Dec. 17 for a rezoning request for property at the Five Points intersection.

The property is at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, East Newnan Road, Poplar Road and Turkey Creek Road and the request is for a change from Urban Residential Single Family Dwelling District to Suburban Neighborhood Commercial.

The request was approved by the council with two amendments — included, but not limited to a 25-foot instead of 20-foot buffer between the commercial and residential property. Also, the annexation request in the amendment was withdrawn.

In other business:

• Mayor Keith Brady nominated Katie McBride to the city Convention Center Authority. The council approved the nomination.

• Council approved a performance agreement between the city and performers for the planned 2014 Charles Wadsworth Concert. The council amended the agreement to allow city officials to contact the performers directly about their performances.

The concerts have been held for some two decades in the Wadsworth Auditorium, with namesake pianist and host Charles Wadsworth bringing a list of up and coming names from the world of classical chamber music, opera and symphony music. Wadsworth himself gave his finale performance in the series at the 2013 concert.

• The council continued its discussion on moving the Farmer’s Market from the Depot History Center parking lot to downtown. The issue was continued to the first meeting in January.

• Public hearings were held for a property at 4 Dewey St. with a resolution to repair or demolish, and 16 Boone Dr. for a repair permit issue/unsafe conditions corrected. Owner of the Dewey Street property was given 90 days to complete the repairs. The repairs at the Boone Drive property were completed.

• The council did not hear a request from Margaret Russo from 495 Productions to film a portion of an MTV show around the square on Dec. 18 and 19, as the request was withdrawn prior to the meeting.

• Approved was a request from First Baptist Church to close Madison Street to through traffic on Feb. 14, 2014, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on March 22, 2014, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. to distribute a large volume of food for the Mobile Pantry from the Atlanta Food Bank.

• The council is proceeding with a request to donate the property at 15 R Pinson Street to the city in exchange for the city demolishing the structure. Before deciding, they are proceeding with an inspection and title examination.